Pure gold have not so much similar to the metal which we’re used to see jewelry made of. The matter is gold is very soft due to its nature, and can be easily deformer even with little mechanical stress. Natural gold also has more saturated golden color. If this metal would used in jewelry in natural form, then we could forget about rigidness and usability of products. Let’s look into the term “alloy” and types of gold hallmarks.

Gold, not Full: Gold Alloy

Gold alloy contains admixtures added to pure gold in order to give some properties or characteristics to it. For example, to give the needed shade, make in to more rigid and resistant to mechanical damage. Therefore, to determine how much pure gold is in the product, and how much alloy, the term “hallmark” was invented.

Hallmark is

The indicator characterizing percentage of pure precious metal in the alloy;

The print imposed on a product by specialized authorities to guarantee presence in it of a certain percentage of the precious metal.

What are Types of Gold? Hallmarks are the Modern Quality Standards

Today, several systems of hallmarks are actual, but we will examine only the most popular – metric and karat.

Karat. With this system, products in the USA and Western Europe are marked. 1 karat is 1/24 of the alloy. If we speak about 24 karat-purity, then the product consists of 100% pure precious metal. Correspondingly, 10-karat gold contains 10 parts of gold and 14 parts of alloy.

Metric. This system found its popularity in Eastern Europe in by this, the part of precious metal is counted by the number of its grams in 1 kg of the alloy. If we talk about hallmark 570, then we mean the alloy, in 1 kg of which there are 570g of pure metal and 430g of admixtures. In this system, there are 7 types of hallmarks (see the table below), and another one was being used for some period in USSR – hallmark 583. But, with time, it was abandoned and replaced by hallmark 585.

What about 585 gold purity, find this information in the table below, which demonstrates gold hallmarks of metric and karat systems, along with their relation.

Metric System

999

958

750

585

500

375

Karat System

24К

23К

18К

14К

12К

9К

Part of pure precious metal

0,99

0,958

0,75

0,585

0,5

0,37

What are Gold Hallmarks in Karat System? Make Right Choice!

Let’s look into each hallmark at the example of the karat system and watch for changes of characteristics of this precious metal depending on changes in gold alloy. To be more accurate, on changes of its percentage and composition.

24 karat. Gold of this hallmark is also often called Red Gold. This is practically pure metal – in this form, it’s in the nature. It’s very soft, unsustainable even to the slightest deformations, and, because of this, it is not used in producing jewelry. Though, in the 18th century, in some countries of Eastern Europe wearing wedding rings of this very hallmark was commonly accustomed. Those products were very massive and weighted at least 8g, because only this way they were not bent or deformed. At the exchange, 24k gold is traded!

23 karat. Alloys of this hallmark contain 95.8% of pure gold (23 parts), and they also are not used in jewelry due to softness. Products of 23k hallmarks are characterized by strongly expressed golden color, and their cost is just slightly lower than the cost of products of the previous hallmark.

18 karat. In this hallmark, there are 24.5% of alloy, consisting of silver, copper, palladium or platinum. Also, admixtures of other metals are probable. The color of a product may significantly vary depending on which metal dominates in it. Cu (copper) gives a light reddish share to gold, Ni (nickel) gives yellowish, Ag (silver) and Cd (cadmium) add greenish shade to the product. Metal of this hallmark is rigid and firm, and that’s why, it’s commonly used in production of jewelry.

14 karat. You may ask about 585 gold purity. I can reply that the alloy contains almost 59% of pure gold. Products of gold of this hallmarks are characterized by rigidness and firmness, perfectly forged and do not fade with time in the air.

12 karat. There are 50% of pure precious metal, and the rest 50% of the alloy are usually presented by silver and copper.

9 karat. Silver and copper usually dominate in such alloys, so the color of 9k products is often bright yellow. The main disadvantage of gold of this hallmark is its tendency to fade when exposed to air.

Interesting Facts and Myths about Gold

One of the most common myth is that the hallmark can be defined by the color of gold. It’s absolutely wrong, as we’ve already figured out types of gold! Hallmarks have no impact on the shade of products! Everything depends only on admixtures and the qualitative composition of the alloy. If gold is dissolved by silver or platinum, then the ready product will get the whitish shade, and if it’s dissolved by copper, then it will be reddish.

This myth has been formed reasonably: in time of USSR, production of gold products was organized so that alloys of hallmark 375 had pinkish shade, 585 – reddish, 750 – yellowish. Everybody knew about gold hallmarks and how to distinguish them approximately. Because, there was no competition in gold production in the country, and all alloys were produced by the same recipes. That’s why, people had the opinion that the color of products can really tell something about their hallmark.

Another interesting fact is that not all the components are mixed with each other well in liquid form. Sometimes, liquid metal freezes, divided into separate layers, and as a result, we may have the gold product with uneven distribution of the hallmark, which is considered a flaw.

Black and Purple – What Are Colors of Gold? Worthwhile Facts!

Gold products are most often made using three components: gold, copper and silver (Au, Cu and Ag). Such alloys are called three-component. In some cases, there are more components, but it occurs by far rarer. Different percentage of admixture components or alloy allows to get gold of different properties and shades.

Let’s consider colors of gold:

Silver enhances plasticity and the ductility of the finished product. Also, it gives whitish shade to gold: because of adding silver to the recipe, we may get white gold, and jewelry of this color is too popular nowadays.

Copper makes gold firmer, but with that, it significantly reduces its natural properties of resisting corrosion.

Cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) make gold products easy to be melted and give a light greenish shade to them.

Palladium adds refractoriness to gold, but the alloy with this metal is more elastic. Products containing much palladium have whitish color with beige shade.

Nickel gives firmness to alloys and makes their shade pale yellow.

Platinum is the best in providing elasticity to gold, but even with 8% of this metal in the alloy, natural yellow color of the product fades.

Gold may have by far more shades than we’re used to see! Along with red, yellow and white, we may come across with green, blue, purple and even black shades!

All that is determined by gold alloy.

In the table, you may find the approximate recipe of the alloy to give gold products the certain shade. The data display the needed number of parts of each element in the alloy and the description of colors of gold with such composition.

Color

Au

Ag

Cu

Ni

Zn

Pd

Fe

Yellow (light)

0,585

0,33

0,085

Yellow

0,585

0,75

0,28

0,122

0,135

0,128

Yellow (dark)

0,585

0,24

0,175

Pink

0,585

0,145

0,27

Red

0,585

0,75

0,065

0,07

0,35

0,18

Green

0,585

0,75

0,38

0,25

0,035

White

0,585

0,585

0,75

-

0,19

-

0,19

-

0,05

0,14

-

0,16

0,085

0,08

0,04

-

0,145

-

-

-

-

Blue

0,75

-

-

-

-

-

0,25

White gold is often produced by adding admixtures of platinum, silver, nickel and palladium. In order to make the product fade, it’s enough just to add 16 parts of palladium into it! This metal gives firmness to gold and enhances its other characteristics. But products containing palladium cost too much, and to get cheaper variants of white gold, they add admixtures of nickel and zinc into it.

For making red metal, alloy is prepared by silver and copper. And blue gold products may be gotten through adding iron into the alloy. Green gold usually contains silver and cadmium, purple gold contains aluminum, cobalt and palladium.

Gold in Law or How to Assess True 585 Gold Purity?

In the USA, the quantity of pure gold contained in the product is regulated by law. It’s told in the National Act of Trading Gold and Silver of 1906 (revised in 1976). This act strictly concerns all products which are made in the territory of the USA or made for importing to the country. Assaying supervision thoroughly watches for compliance with the appropriate amount of gold contained in the product, stated in engraving.

It’s interesting to know that products made in the USA have the registered mark of their producer. But, with that, never a one American law requires the compulsory presence of printed alloy. Also, the act states that gold may stand for the allow containing at least 50% of this precious metal. That’s why, everything lower than 10k cannot be realized called “gold”.

The country also strictly controls organizations realizing jewelry. In orer to avoid tricks of unfair realizers and counterfeits, you need to clearly know about types of gold (hallmarks), and before purchasing gold bars anywhere, you should make sure the seller has the appropriate license, along with other documents proving the legality of activity of the organization at selling the metal.

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Gold as the Way of Getting the Growing Income

Gold has not been considered only as the metal used for producing jewelry. Today, this commodity as a trading instrument at exchanges is as popular as many currency pairs! And really: why not to gain with it, if its price continually grows?

Let’s look at the main ways of making money with gold, approachable for everybody:

Acquiring gold bars in banks. It’s not only pleasant to be the owner of a couple of gold products but also very profitable! For gaining continuous profit with gold, you need to watch for fluctuating prices for that regularly and sell on time, when price grows, and buy again, when it falls.However, for making money with gold bars acquired in banks, you must considered the following features:

When selling, bank adds value-added tax, and when buying, it doesn’t.

For keeping bought gold in the special depository, there is monthly fee paid by the holder. In case of refusal of services in keeping, the bank may take additional 10% of fee for carrying out expert testing of the bar for its authenticity.

Due to these two facts, it must be mentioned that one can earn with bank gold only if its price rises more than by 26-30%.

Acquiring weight coins. Banks of different countries of the world purposefully issue gold coins for selling. One can also gain with selling them! Among the most popular coins, we can mention Russian ruble, American coins with eagle print, Canadian with maple and Australian “kangaroo”. They can be purchased in banks, but you will need to wait for a while to get incomes from them: price of their realization for public is by far higher than purchase price.

Opening the depersonalized metal account (DMA). This name of the account is given this way because, having opened it, you become the owner of some volume of gold in grams, but bars of certain numbers are not attached to your personality. The advantage of opening the depersonalized metal account rather than straight purchase of bars lies in the fact that banks doesn’t take value-added tax from the holder. Also, this way of making money is convenient because the account holder always sees the amount which sometimes changes depending on fluctuation of rate for the 1g of precious metal. It should be mentioned that some banks add interest in grams of gold when opening accounts for 1-12 months. The level of interest varies in 1-5%. Another advantage of this way of passive earning lies in the fact that income tax must be paid only from interest added by the bank and only when it’s transferred to the account rather than from the income for the change of rate price of the precious metal.

Acquiring rare coins. Price of one such gold coin of 1 ounce can reach $20,000, despite its cost price will be 10-20 times lower! In this case, we speak only of coins from precious metals, bearing numismatic interest. As an example, I can give Saint-Gaudens, which were massively issued in the USA until 1933. Coins can be purchased through specialized dealers and agencies, and also through auction companies. Each single purchased product must go with the special certificate proving its quality and authenticity.

Making money with investment in funds at the exchange or in ETF. This way of gaining income with gold is more professional and serious. Nevertheless, because of digital helpers available today, along with special software and utilities, even a relatively unexperienced trader can forecast gold rate fluctuation to the some direction themselves and make money with it.
This way of earning gives the right to the investor to take participation in trading without directing purchase of gold bars. In trading, special shares are used, together with options. Each share is supported by the certain volume of gold, and the whole reserve of the gold fund is kept by the patron-bank. Quotes for ETF shares fluctuates according to changes of world gold prices, and this data is publicly available. That’s why, talking about risks of fraud through the exchange cannot take place! Shares of ETFs participates in trading at the exchanges throughout the world around the clock.

Gold Bars – What Are They?

If you decided to open a deposit or to buy a bar, then you must know types of gold (hallmarks) and how a real bar of pure gold looks like. It usually has the form of a brick or a very thick blade of hallmark 999. Nevertheless, bars with proportions of a credit card are also met. Pieces of gold are made of weight of at least 1g. There are two types of gold bars: cast (stamped) and cut.

In different countries, different weight measurement is used. In America, the standard golden brick has the weight of 400 troy ounces, but also, bricks of 1kg also circulate. And gold bars of 350-400 troy ounces participate in trading at London exchange.

Hallmark is printed on every product, together with the number, producer’s printing and printing of assaying inspection. It’s interesting that there are some countries where it’s forbidden to possess gold in bars! This prohibition was being actual for long in Russia, and was canceled only in 1997. Now, acquiring gold “bricks” and opening bank accounts became approachable and available for every citizen of Russia.

TipsforNoviceTraders

If you start making money with gold and are ready to take moderate and considerable risk, then trading options for gold will be the perfect solution for you. To start trading, just make a contract with a reliable broker company. All the principle of trading is built very simply: renter the market, having purchased some volume of gold (i.e. options for it) and, having forecasted price growth, close the order on time (sell derivatives purchased before).

In order to realize market behavior better and determine entrance and leaving points with more accuracy, you need to consider and analyze factors that directly or indirectly can affect fluctuation of gold prices.

Let’s look at the main principles to be followed by novice traders:

Enter the market during the growth that has started recently – in this case, there are many chances for a good win.
In order to get used to market movement, watch it for 3-3 weeks, carrying out analytics. It will give you the opportunity to learn forecasting its behavior and dynamics.

Watch for forecast and analytics of recent periods.

Set the level of profitability for yourself: the level when you close the order with profit regardless where the market will move further. Here, the discipline and the purpose not to deviate from the selected strategy are very important, while sometimes, expectation to win too much can turn in unexpected risks and losses. Usually, gold prices grow, but there are some falls in short-term periods.

Learn and study thematic literature. One book won’t be enough for that, but you may start with Michael Melony’s “Manual for Investment in Gold and Silver”. Amount of your income from investing in gold and trading it strongly depend on your competency, skills of work and knowledge that come with education and experience.

Be disciplined. Discipline for a trader is a very important instrument! In situation of high risks it is the thing that helps to avoid reckless actions leading to wasting the deposit. Try to develop your own trading strategy for a day-week before entering the market and stick to it.

These simple rules and tips will help you significantly increase your incomes from trading gold. Follow them and let your deposit grow!

In recent 10 years, gold price rise has been enormous, despite the fact that in 2013, gold prices fell a bit.

So, let’s make a conclusion! We’ve looked into types of gold: hallmarks, kinds of alloys and ways of using. We learned the main myths related to shades of this metal and colors of gold. Also, we have found out that one may earn well with it! Experts at trading at the gold market confidently state that the period of sharp price fall for that precious metal may be considered finished. At least, in the nearest future, there shouldn’t be any abrupt turns at charts. And it means it’s time to find not only beautiful material of jewelry in gold but also the reliable way of making money.